


Short Story Long, Anything by Dickens

by lizandletdie



Series: 500 Follower Promptathon [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, oliver twist au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 16:51:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1825387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizandletdie/pseuds/lizandletdie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short drabble loosely based on Oliver Twist.  And when I say "loosely" I mean maybe if you squint you can see it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Short Story Long, Anything by Dickens

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymousnerdgirl on Tumblr prompted:  
> Swanfire prompt: Oliver Twist AU. (I don't know where this came from.)
> 
> because she is a terrible, awful person and I was NOT writing that AU. This is closer to Oliver & Company than Oliver, but it's cute enough I guess.
> 
> I hate that I have to do this, but apparently I do. If you're reading this fic anywhere besides AO3, it was posted without my consent and likely profited someone else. Please consider [donating](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=CZNGXGNP4PRX4&lc=US&item_name=The%20Mantis%20Fund&currency_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donate_SM%2egif%3aNonHosted) or swinging by my Tumblr (standbyyourmantis) to let me know what you thought!

Emma hiked the bag containing all her worldly possessions up to it sat more comfortably on her shoulder.  Glancing around the crowded bus, she chose between a seat next to a business man who eyed her like she was a feral dog and a fairly normal looking guy about her age (maybe a few years older), sliding into the vacant seat next to the younger man and planting her bag firmly in her lap.

"Hey," he said by way of greeting.  "I’m Neal."

He stuck his hand out for her to shake and she stared at it a minute before taking it.

"Emma," she replied.

"So where you off too, Emma?"

"I don’t know," she shrugged.  She probably should have lied to him, she realized belatedly.  Told him a story about going home from visiting her grandparents and the family who would be waiting to pick her up.  Now she was probably going to end up murdered by a guy on the bus.  Fantastic.

"Yeah, me either."

She fixed him with a stare, trying to judge if he was making fun of her or not.

"Sometimes you’ve just gotta get away, you know?" he continued.

"Yeah, I do know."

And she did.  She guessed she was technically a run away, having skipped out on another foster home.  She just couldn’t stay there anymore, couldn’t be in the system.  She’d find her own way this time.

"You got a place to stay when you get where you’re going?"

Alarm bells were going off all over the place now, he was asking too many questions and being too friendly.  The cranky business man was looking more and more like the correct choice.

"That’s not really any of your business," she snapped, reaching into her bag to find a CD player and headphones to get her away from this guy and his weird probing questions.

"Sorry," he said, palms up.  "Here, lemme make it up to you."

He reached into his bag and pulled out a Snickers bar, proffering it to her.  Emma debated taking it, and he began turning it around so she could see all sides of it.

"Look, unopened.  I promise I didn’t poison it or anything."

She relented, because she was a little hungry and money was tight until she found someplace to settle.

"I’m just asking," he lowered his voice to a whisper so that only she could hear him, "because you’ve got The Look to you."

"The Look?"

"The look like you’re an orphan, too."

She didn’t say anything, because he’d hit too close to the mark and she didn’t know this guy at all what the hell damn business was it of his whether she was alone or not?

He took this as an excuse to continue.

"You’ve got an entire bus ride to nowhere to decide if you trust me or not.  But I know a guy who can give you a place to say.  No funny business, I swear.  It’s just a damn sight easier than being alone, you know?"

Emma looked at him warily, trying to size him up before replying.  He was right in that she had very few other options, and Neal at least seemed to have  _something_  which was more than she did right now.  And she had a knife in her bag that he didn’t know about if he decided to try anything.

"Alright," she said softly.  "One whole bus ride."


End file.
